A Penny Saved, A Mary Earned
by giggling-bubble
Summary: Marshall is on the rebound and reminiscing. Mary is helping Marshall get back to his old self; maybe even the Marshall before Mary. SOLID M RATING! explicit


I don't own anything. Just writing for entertainment purposes.

I hadn't intended on writing anything like this, but it just ran away with me. Enjoy!

* * *

"Penelope was probably my best friend," Marshall said sadly staring fondly at a little ornament he kept on his desk. It was a little Domino Noid from his childhood. He and Penelope had split a pizza and she'd let him keep the toy.

_"You can keep it," _she'd said, _"I'd rather you have it than anyone."_

"You can keep it, Marshall," Mary chuckled, "It's not like I need it and I sure as hell don't want anyone else taking it." Mary was talking about the last piece of pie. She'd eaten until she was stuffed, but Marshall was still hungry; even though he'd had his half of the pie.

"Thank you, Mary," he smiled at her. It was a very sweet gesture, even though she made it sound less than sweet. He knew she could finish off her half of the pie, but she was being nice and letting him have the last piece. Mary often did things like this and disguised her nice acts of kindness as avoiding a burden or benefitting her more than you.

They'd just watched Jaws and Mary was looking for another movie to watch. They'd pretty much exhausted her DVD collection the past month and she didn't want to watch any of those. Instead, she decided to go to her old VHS tapes. They'd been sitting getting dusty in a box on the shelf and she knew she had some gems in there somewhere. Problem was the labels kept falling off.

"Here," she said pulling out a tape, "Shall we?"

"What is on it?" he asked.

"Not a clue. Feeling lucky?"

"Please don't tell me there's a sex tape in there. I can't handle a sex tape, Mare."

"Psssh, no, you think I'd have a sex tape in here?" she chuckled.

"Do you have a sex tape?" Marshall asked, carefully, because he hoped she didn't hear him ask the question. He really didn't want to know the answer, but his curiousity was getting the better of him.

"NO!" she exclaimed, "God, Marshall! You think I'd have made a sex tape? How trashy do you think I am? Hell, I'm so paranoid I confiscate camera phones as soon as I bring a guy home. Seriously!"

"You confiscate camera phones?" He quirked an eyebrow and smirked.

She pointed a finger at him, "Hey, don't judge me." At that he chuckled even more. "Do YOU have a sex tape, Mr. Perfect?" she inquired.

Marshall blushed, "Not anymore."

Mary's eyes about popped out of her head and her head whipped around fast enough to give her whip lash, "YOU MADE A SEX TAPE!" she shouted incredulously.

Marshall had the decency to look embarrassed and chagrined at the same time, "I was YOUNG! We were stupid."

"College?"

Marshall nodded silently.

Mary clapped her hands together in glee, "Okay, I have to hear this. Spill it. Where was it? Who was it with? How did you do it? Was it one of those huge clunky cameras? What positions did you use? Oh, wait, no, don't tell me that. I might barf. Come on...go ahead, and don't leave out any gory details just because you think they're insignificant."

Marshall was beet red and trying desperately to disappear. His muteness annoyed Mary, but she had given him her full attention so he knew she wouldn't be derailed.

He took a deep breath and started, "I was in college, Junior year, with an ecclectic freshman. Her hair was dyed blue, she had a nose piercing, and went by the name Polka Dot."

Mary covered her mouth and her cheeks bulged as she laughed. She was trying desperately not to look too enthused because that caused Marshall to clam up tighter than a fat man's sphincter on the 4th of July.

She waved him to continue. "We were study partners. I was tutoring her in a film course she was taking. We were using her camera trying to figure out how to shoot best in small spaces, such as a dorm room, and while I was assembling the 'clunky' camera and getting everything right I turned around and she was standing there naked." He rubbed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. He couldn't believe he was giving Mary this much fodder to use against him later on. He'd definitely pay for this one, but he couldn't manage to shut up! "She got up close to me and things just happened. We didn't turn the camera off and it was aimed at her bed. I didn't realize I'd hit record. She pointed it out during our...mattress acrobatics. I freaked out, turned it off, and asked her to leave. It was a one time thing, nothing romantic about it, and a HUGE mistake I never care to repeat."

Mary was grinning from ear to ear, "Pretty boy, Marshall, has a spontaneous streak! I'd have NEVER guessed."

He shook his head, "That's actually the reason I stopped being spontaneous, Mare. I worried for weeks. I kept thinking 'we didn't use a condom, she'll end up pregnant' and stuff like that, even though I've never...you know...inside. Not ever, not with anyone, not even then. She never called. She stopped showing up for study periods and just disappeared. I think she flunked out that semester."

"What was her real name?" Mary asked, suddenly curious.

"Michelle? I think."

"Huh. Makes me wonder why she wanted to be called Polka Dot."

"She was obsessed with Polka Dots. Obsessed. Everything was dotted."

"Puke," Mary shook her head to clear the image of polka dots.

Mary put in the unmarked tape and hit play. On the screen home movies popped up. There was a young Mary in the silent film, a young Jinx with a tiny baby Brandi, Mary's father James Shannon peeked out from behind the camera momentarily to wave, and then there she was...Penelope.

"Penny..." Marshall whispered, unaware he'd said it out loud.

Mary was smiling sadly at the home movie and hit stop, "Yeah, Penny was a character." She popped the tape out before realization hit her, "WAIT! How did you know her name was Penny?"

Marshall was looking at Mary now with the same stunned expression, "What is she doing on your home movie?"

"She's my cousin, dickweed," she growled, "How do you know Penny?"

Marshall just stared at her for a second and chuckled looking upward. It was as if divine intervention had prevailed, "This is unbelievable. Small small world indeed."

"Answer the question, Marshall."

"She was my neighbor when I was a kid. That noid on my desk? Yeah, that's from Penny."

"Seriously?" Mary grinned and her eyes lit up, "I've been wondering why you have that old toy on your desk. Makes sense." Mary stood up and grabbed her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"I've got to call her and tell her that you still have that noid. That's hilarious!"

"Wait, no, don't call her."

"Why not?" Mary wondered curiously as she held the phone up to her ear, "She'd love to hear the story."

"It's been a long time, Mare. Did you know she was my best friend as a kid?"

Mary shook her head, "No, I didn't. She's never mentioned you."

_"Mary! My favorite cousin that isn't a criminal. What's happening?"_

_"Guess what I just found out?"_

_"What?"_

_"I met someone from YOUR past that is now a big part of MY present."_

_"Who?"_

_"My partner, Marshall Mann."_

There was silence on the other end.

_"Penelope?"_

_"Marshall, huh?"_

_"Yeah. He said you gave him a noid when you were kids."_

_"Gave him more than that," _she said solemnly_._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Gave him my little girl heart, my first kiss, and trusted him. Told his daddy about my dad's drug habit and snatched me away."_

Mary gasped_, "NO!"_

_"Yeah."_

_"That's what happened? I had no idea."_

Marshall was waving his arms wildly, but Mary hadn't noticed.

_"Do you want to tell him hi?" she asked, confused as to what he meant by his actions._

_"You can tell him hi for me, but that's it. I don't want to talk to him...no."_

_"Okay."_

_"Bye, Mary."_

_"Bye."_

Mary looked at Marshall confused, "Penny doesn't want to talk to you."

Marshall rolled his eyes, "Of course she doesn't. She probably blames me for DFS."

Mary shrugged, "She'll get over it...someday. She always does. She's forgiven me enough."

"You didn't ruin her life," he grumbled.

"No, that's true. I didn't give her her first kiss, either. SO...you and my cousin, huh? Was she your first kiss?"

Marshall threw his head back and sighed, "Yes. She was. She was a very sweet girl."

"Still is," Mary added, "She just hates you."

That made Marshall want to cry, but he didn't. There was something about these girls that just made him melt-Mary and Penny.

He sighed heavily, "I don't want to watch another movie," he said sadly.

"Aww, why not?" she asked confused.

"I'm not in the mood."

"Not in the mood to watch a movie? Not even a musical?" she asked.

He shook his head and she put the back of her hand on his forehead, "You feeling all right?"

He shrugged, "You've just ruined my evening."

"ME!" she exclaimed, "You didn't tell me you'd ruined Penny's life. You should have said something."

"I tried," he said, "But you ignored me."

"Oh." There wasn't much else to say, "Well, I guess you can go back home then? Or do you want to crash here. It's like 3:00 now...so much for pulling an all nighter."

"Uh, no, I'll just crash here on your old lumpy super uncomfortable couch."

"Suit yourself!" she said walking down the hall to grab him blankets.

Once bedded down for the night Mary went to her room. Norah was at Brandi's for the weekend and it was blissful.

At about 3:45 Mary heard the floorboards creak in her room. She reached for her gun.

"Shhh-it's just me," Marshall whispered, "That couch is uncomfortable. I can't sleep there. I'm going to go home. I thought I'd let you know."

"JESUS! Marshall, I could have shot you."

"I didn't want you to worry when I'm not here in the morning," he said, "Sorry. I'll let you get back to sleep."

"Like hell. Get over here. Just sleep on that side."

"That's a full size bed, Mare. There's not room for two. You know how you sleep."

"Get in or I will shoot you," she growled, "I'm too tired to worry about you driving home. Just do it."

Marshall tip-toed to the other side of the bed and slipped in under the covers. He was wide awake now and there were butterflies threatening a stampede in his stomach. He was super alert-so much so that his leg began to itch horribly.

Marshall reached down to scratch his leg, but he couldn't get the itch through the flannel of his pants. Instead, he peeked over at Mary to make sure she wasn't looking and stuck his hands down them to scratch the itch.

Mary could just hear a flapping sound. Then it stopped and she heard it again, only this time there was a fabric sound with it. She flipped her head over to peek and saw Marshall's hand down his pants.

This is where things get a little dicey. The idea of Marshall whacking off in her bed behind her should have had Mary running for the hills screaming and threatening to shoot him. Instead, what happened is she became very horny. Her thighs became sticky instantly and she stifled a moan in the back of her throat. _What the hell!_ She thought.

Marshall, on the other hand, had no idea what was happening when Mary rolled over on top of him and began to kiss him senseless. His hands went immediately to her hips to help steady her as she was rocking up against him. The sudden movement of her against him through his pajamas was arousing and he went from 0 to 60 in less than a second.

He kissed her back eagerly and she moaned deep in her throat. He grunted at the sudden pressure of her grinding against him with more weight.

"Sponteneity isn't gone," Mary mumbled against his mouth.

"Thank God," Marshall whispered back before Mary plunged her tongue into his mouth. At first he wanted to question what they were doing. He was, after all, on the rebound. This whole movie weekend was to help him get over the loss of Abby who had decided her ex-boyfriend was more 'marriage' material for her in this stage of life. Marshall was too caught up in Mary.

Mary reached down and cupped him through his flannel pajamas and smirked against his mouth, "You've been keeping secrets, Mr. Mann."

Marshall groaned deeply and jerked up against her. This elicited a small squeal from Mary. Marshall didn't peg Mary for the squealing type, but her little squeaky sigh was a HUGE turn on.

Mary tugged on his shirt and pulled it over his head. His nipples hardened when exposed to the cold air and Mary sealed her lips around one and then the other. Marshall attempted to stab at her through his pajamas, but to no avail. Instead, he just kept pounding her with the barrier in place in an attempt to get his message across that what she was doing to him was driving him mad.

Mary grinned and lifted her shirt over her own head. Marshall's eyes widened at the view. She wasn't sleeping in a bra and her breasts fell out at him. He gripped both of them, one in each hand, and softly caressed each one. He leaned forward and sucked on one. To his surprise there was a sweet taste...then he realized what it was.

"You're breastfeeding?" he asked, his eyes black with lust. Milk was a rather unexpected, yet unknowingly pleasant, surprise.

Mary smiled sheepishly, "I didn't tell you?"

He looked at her breasts again like a hungry lion, "No. You forgot to mention that."

"Sorry," she said, "Uh...I pump during the day and..."

He saw she was beginning to get a little embarrassed. To keep the mood he leaned forward and latched on again sucking more deeply to show her he approved. The motion sent Mary into a frenzy.

"Pants off now," she said falling back onto her back into a submissive lower position. Marshall liked that, too. He actually enjoyed being on top, but thought Mary would fight him for that position. He was more than willing to keep the lower, but this was much MUCH better.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Marshall growled shucking his pants off as Mary slithered out of her own. The glistening trimmed portion between her thighs drove him crazy. He'd always imagined having to work hard at the wining and dining to get Mary to this point and then it would be a romantic, slow affair...this wasn't unwelcomed, but a very big surprise.

"Been a while since you've done this?" he asked as he resumed his hovering position above her.

"One year, four days, and give or take eight hours," she sighed heavily.

"Seriously?" he wondered how.

"Conceived Norah, felt like a whale, been breastfeeding...haven't felt real appealing."

He frowned before leaning down to kiss her deeply, "You can come to me anytime."

"Good to know," she smiled grabbing his penis and positioning him at her vaginal entrance.

The moment her hand touched him it was like a shock of electricity shot through him. His entire body convulsed and he throbbed in her hand. The little twitch made Mary bite her lower lip in the attempt to be patient. She may have started this, but sex was a two way street. You give and you get.

In her palm she felt the slick, slimy precum from the tip of him. Immediately, she thought 'condom,' but was too impatient. Truth be told, Mary didn't really care about the risk. Before, she did, now...not so much. Been there, done that.

"Condom?" he asked as he pulsed again against her labial opening.

"Forget it," she said looking directly into his eyes.

He just stared back, "Is it safe? Breastfeeding isn't birth control, Mare."

"I said forget it," she repeated reaching up to put her hands on either side of his hips to guide him into her.

"Mare, I may accidentally, you know."

She smiled, "I know. The ending is the best part."

"Inside?" he asked, completely shocked.

"I can't feel it if you're not there," she smiled encouragingly, "I want be the one who takes you."

He blinked twice before realization hit and at that moment he plunged deep inside of her. She screamed out softly as he pushed himself full to the hilt. He began thrusting enthusiastically. Each time Mary could feel herself getting closer.

Marshall was so into the whole experience. Mary couldn't get over the way he looked at her. It was as if he was trying his hardest to remember everything about the experience. Like this was something extraordinary, that she was uniquely special, and that he was trying to show her just how much he loved her. That was when everything hit Mary. The whole idea that he loved her and that perhaps she loved him, too.

Luckily, she didn't over think it and instead tried to join in on proving just how special he was to her. The enthusiasm was met head on. After this was over they'd have to have a long talk, but words couldn't express just how much they felt for each other...not like this could. In this moment they knew.

"I love you," Mary whispered into his hair. The little utterance, aloud, was enough to send her over the edge and Marshall came crashing down, too.

As he came down Mary squeezed him gently internally milking himdrop by drop. Marshall twitched softly and sighed before rolling off of her onto his back. Mary rolled over and curled up against him.

They laid there for a minute, in silence, before Marshall ran his hand through her hair and whispered, "I love you, too, Mare. God, how I've loved you."

* * *

Did NOT intend on that to be an M story, but it sort of just ended up that way. Reviews are appreciated, but not expected. Thanks for reading!


End file.
